DQRider 

Wow! Very nicely done, sir. That took a lot of work. And I'm surprised at how good the satin black looks with new decals - you managed to preserve just enough patina to convey the essence of this bike's history. Beautiful bike.

Binky

Before and after Allpro 12-speed...

SurferRosa

^ wow.

The "before" paint is completely heinous.

I think you should just go over the bar with your rear brake cable routing.

ryansu 

Finally finished my 1992 Specialized Allez Sport, I really wanted it to fit but a 56cm is just a might too small. Someday I will find a 58.



As found CL ad


After the Refurb

Hailstorm_7

Finished this as a refurbish for a non-cyclist friend wanting to once again have a bike to ride (hence the platform pedals and squishy saddle). Thankfully, it was donated along with the original fork. Wish you could see how the frame cleaned up after a bath, some T-Cut, and cleaning wax. That, and we successfully restocked our spacer stash....


As donated.


The final build.

Johno59

Wow, that is really nice work. That dull gold paint will never come back - too much lead. The yellowed tire walls are a stroke of aesthetic genius. Wonderful rescue.

Binky

The black filth on the bike frame was ALL just water-soluable dirt.... so the bike frame cleaned up over 95% with just a soft paint brush and a bucket of soapy water.

Bink

DQRider 

This bike was OK as a 6-Speed cruiser, but that upright riding position never felt quite right on it. Here's Before:



So, after I finished my `49 Clubman and marveled at the ride on that, I did a similar build with this bike. It turned out a treat:







Now it feels fast and nimble, just as it was supposed to. This one's a Keeper.

.

horatio 

Looks great, but still upright to me.

RobRees

All theses are looking great

DQRider 

Well then, good thing you don't ride it. There are good reasons why I can't ride drops. But I still enjoy a sporty ride. So I build my own solutions.

.

noobinsf 

camjr

My 1976 Motobecane Grand Touring. My father purchased it new, and I pulled it down from the ceiling hooks it hadn't moved from since 1982 about a year ago, replaced all the consumables, and started riding it. This week, the spindle and bearings were replaced in the bottom bracket (French threads), new cables, and brake and derailleur teardown and rebuild. I had initially replaced the saddle but the original went back on yesterday as well.

Before:


After:

OTS 

Nicely done.
Did this involve a repaint or?

noobinsf 

Thanks! No, no repaint. I was lucky that the paint was in good shape under the preservative layer of grime. I used a straight blade to scrape the old yellowing clear coat off of the chrome, but I couldn’t do the same for the painted parts without removing the paint as well. Just a deep clean and a wax.

LeoGrand

Really nice bike!

Kdogbikes

Neighbors varsity. Bought new when he was 10.

ryansu 

1985 Trek 420, I was going to hang onto to this one but then I stumbled on to a 520 for the clunker challenge in the same 22.5 inch frame. The 420 is now on CL

before as found



After

malcala622 

@Kdogbikes Whoa!!! Nice job on the Schwinn Varsity.

deux jambes 

‘76 Eisentraut Limited

As found on eBay...





As built & ridden...

natterberry 

'82 Trek 614. Was really in nice/almost completely original shape as found. Wasn't going to let that stop me.

Before:




After:

plonz 

This 1985 Peugeot PSN 10 was spray bombed and left for dead so I picked it up 4 years ago and stashed it away. Thought I might one-day repaint it and restore to its former glory. Instead, with indoor trainer season quickly approaching, I decided to build it to sit on the trainer yet still take out on the nasty roads for the occasional off-season jaunt. So the rattle can white stays and I built it up 100% from the parts bin (if you can consider DA7400 parts bin!). With the ratty frame and high-end components, I refer to this as my rat-rod.

It is also my first Peugeot experience and I am very impressed. The Super Vitus frame is the lightest in my fleet at 3.95lbs. The lug work and joints are very clean and the ride is responsive yet comfy.

A shout-out to some resident BF'ers who supplied the parts bin that made this build happen.
@bear_a_bug for the Nitto B176 Dream Handlebars.
@16Victor for the Sachs Maillard LY 97 7spd freewheel. Wonderfully compatible with the 7spd indexed DA shifters.
@sloar for the Araya 20A wheelset. Repacked the Suzue hubs and they spin great. The copperish color makes the rat-rod even more ratty.

On to the pics.


What she looked like when I brought her home.


Thinned lugs... I knew it wasn't a gas pipe Peugeot


Still a spray bombed mess but ready to roll with DA7400 indexing. 22.2lbs as shown

ryansu 

This isn't so much a stellar transformation story asone of thinking outside the box. I needed a 700c wheelset and decided finding a whole bike selling for cheap might be the least expensive way to find a set. Enter this late 70s Takara, the CL add stated it had been upgraded to 700c wheels, I could see a mavic sticker in the pics and when I got to the seller to take a look I saw ultegra hubs and gladly paid $75



As found

Then I stripped the bike of the 700c wheels and its suntour bar cons which I sold on eBay for $26 and was left here



Middle stage

I am fortunate to have a robust parts bin so 27" wheels, tires and tubes were gathered and I spent about $15 at the co-op for shifters and orphan front fender and a few nuts and bolts and ended up here



finished

A functional, beater, winter bike with fenders rack and kickstand and it got sold and the nice 700c Mavic Ultegra wheel-set was basically free. It was a lucky find.

Murray Missile 

Just finished this 1990 Diamondback Centurion Interval, bought the frameset 4-1/2 years ago..... I was in no rush LOL.

malcala622 

^And here I thought I took forever on a 8 month bike build.